The Georgia Bulldogs will face the TCU Horned Frogs in the CFP National Championship on January 9 after prevailing in a pair of close semi-finals on New Year's Eve.
In the first of the two semi-finals, third-ranked TCU took on the two-seed Michigan Wolverines and produced the second-highest scoring playoff game since the inception of the new format in 2014.
The Horned Frogs looked set to coast through for a chance at their first National Championship since 1938 after their second pick-six of the game gave them a 34-16 lead late in the third period, but there would be plenty of points still to come.
In fact, the 44 combined points in the third quarter was the most ever in one quarter of a playoff game, and two quick touchdowns from Michigan cut the margin to 41-38 early in the fourth period.
Michigan got the ball back with 45 seconds and no timeouts, needing a touchdown to produce an incredible comeback win, but the TCU defense rose to the occasion and got the turnover-on-downs to escape 51-45 winners.
The second game was somehow even more dramatic, with defending champions Georgia scoring the game-winning touchdown with under one minute remaining to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes 42-41.
Ohio State quarterback and likely top-five NFL Draft pick C.J. Stroud was excellent, completing 23 of his 34 passes for 348 yards, four touchdowns and no turnovers, but it was not enough.
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett is now one game away from leading the Bulldogs to consecutive titles, matching Stroud stride-for-stride as he completed 23-of-34 for 398 yards, three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, including the game-winning pass to Adonai Mitchell with 54 seconds on the clock.
Rams kick 4 field goals in 12-6 win over 49ers
Joshua Karty kicked four field goals and the Los Angeles Rams survived a slugfest a week after winning a shootout, beating the San Francisco 49ers 12-6 on Thursday night in a key game in the NFC West race.
Four days after beating Josh Allen and Buffalo 44-42 in the NFL's highest-scoring game of the season, the Rams (8-6) outlasted the 49ers (6-8) on a rainy night to move within a half-game of division-leading Seattle. Los Angeles won a game without a touchdown for the first time since 2016.
The Niners led 6-3 heading into the fourth quarter but came up short, dealing a major blow to the dwindling playoff hopes for the defending NFC champions.
This marked the fourth time this season that the Niners lost to a division opponent after leading by at least three points in the fourth quarter, making them the first team to do that since New England in 2000 in coach Bill Belichick's first season with the Patriots.
Karty capped a 17-play drive with a game-tying 23-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and then hit a 27-yarder after Matthew Stafford connected on a 51-yard pass to Puka Nacua.
The Niners then drove into field-goal range, but Brock Purdy was intercepted on a deep pass into the end zone by Darious Williams, helping the Rams secure their first series sweep against the 49ers since 2018.
Bill Belichick reportedly to coach the University of North Carolina
Bill Belichick will return to coaching, but not in the NFL.
The six-time Super Bowl-winning coach is making the move to the American college ranks, agreeing to take over as coach at the University of North Carolina.
Multiple media outlets have reported the hire, and terms of the deal were being finalised on Wednesday.
The 72-year-old Belichick did not coach in 2024 after serving as the New England Patriots head coach from 2000-23.
During his 24 years at the helm in New England, the Patriots won 17 AFC East crowns and appeared in nine Super Bowls.
Prior to his time in New England, Belichick coached the Cleveland Browns for five seasons from 1991-95.
His 302 career wins rank third all-time behind Don Shula (328) and Geroge Halas (318).
Though he has never coached in college, his father coached running backs at North Carolina from 1953-55, so Belichick has a connection to the university.
He takes over a Tar Heels program that went 6-6 in 2024 and recently fired Mack Brown.
Chase's big game leads Bengals by Cowboys
Ja'Marr Chase capped a monster game with a tie-breaking 40-yard touchdown catch with 1:01 remaining that gave the Cincinnati Bengals a 27-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday.
Cincinnati (5-8) scored the final 10 points to overcome a 20-17 deficit early in the fourth quarter, while getting some help from a late special-teams blunder by the Cowboys that led to Chase's winning score, the star receiver's 14th catch and second touchdown of the night.
Dallas was set to get the ball back with under two minutes left when Nick Vigil blocked a punt by the Bengals' Ryan Rehkow. The ball then fell forward and was touched by a Cowboys' player before being recovered by Cincinnati's Maema Njongmeta near midfield.
Three plays later, Chase caught a pass from Joe Burrow near the Dallas 30-yard line before eluding a defender and sprinting down the sideline and into the end zone to break the 20-20 deadlock.
Dallas (5-8) failed to convert on fourth down on the following possession to have its two-game winning streak snapped - and its play-off hopes dimmed. The Cowboys are now three games out of a wild card spot in the NFC.
Chase also had a touchdown catch in the first quarter and finished with 177 receiving yards. Burrow threw for three touchdowns while putting up 369 yards with one interception on a 33-of-44 passing line.
Cooper Rush threw two touchdown passes for Dallas, including a 3-yard strike to Brandin Cooks early in the second half that tied the game at 17-17. The Cowboys later went ahead on Brandon Aubrey's fourth-quarter field goal before Cincinnati pulled even on Cade York's 29-yard field goal with 10:24 left.
CeeDee Lamb also had a touchdown catch for the Cowboys and ended with 93 yards on six receptions. Dallas also got a career-high 131 rushing yards from Rico Dowdle but fell to 1-6 at home this season.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
